The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-05-06


with the other youths. and regularly
mounted guard. AT the end OF the
first year OF trial you presented your
self with your companions in the thea.
ter, where you were publicly praised
for Your conduct, and received your
lance and shield.
ION the death of your father you
were appointed to the magistracy. but
you refused the appointment, and beng
your own master now, you determined
to devote your life to your favorte
study OF astronomy. | advised you
against it, but you were persistent.
You made the acquaintance OF Euclid,
and became his disciple. He gave you
all the knowledge he had gained from
the Egyptians and the Chaldeans. adj
inc the fruits of his OWE observations.
lie taught you TO- divide the day into
twelve parts, varying in length accord
ing TO the different seasons. These
parts were marked on dials' for each
month, with the length of the shadow
correspond to each The shade OF
the gnomon corresponded TO the hands
of our clocks and watches, rs II was
usual TO ask, What shade is it" or to
send our slaves to consul the public
dial. Euclid taught you the use of the
celestial panisphere, on which you
learned to know the principal stars,
the motions OF the sun and moon and
the five planets. But after long
wanderings in the sky, and after you
had learned all your master could teach
you. your craving for more light grew
Unsuitable. You would fathom iniinity.
You sought for truth, and strove to DIS
cover it by means of abstract ideas
taken from the wretched heap of errors
and contradictions misnamed philoso-
ply, and wanting in that power OF true
philosophy, which, discerning the point
where mystery begins and where rea-
son must yield to faith, reveres the
mystery. dissatisfied and craving, you
sought the oraclcs. At your request, |
you to the cave OF
Trophonius, one of the most celebrated
of the oracles.
1T comes before my mind now as If
only yesterday we had made the jour
ney. We crossed the hill of Helicon,
where the plants were so health-giving
that in eating of them the very SER
penis were said to lose their venom.
We slept one night at the Hamlet of
Asera. the country OF Hesiod, and on
the following morning we passed
the grove sacred to the Musos,
where the statues, carved in pure
marble. were to be seen. Tripods OF
bronze, upon which perfumes were
burnt, were also plentiful. dedicated
by those who had been victors in music
to their inspiring muse. We reached
the mouth of the cavern, which appear
ed like q sort of vestibule surrounded
with balustrades of white marble,
with hero and there brass oblisks upon
them. From this vestbule we entered
q grotto hewn out of the solid rock,
eight cubits high and four wide. Here
! was not permitted to accompany you
farther, for here the entrance to the
cave of Trophonlus once
stood.
you babe me farewell for the time,
and descended by ladder; Mt its foot
you passed through narrow aperture,
feet foremost, and then you were hur-
ried on with the speed OF lightning to
the bottom of the cavern, where were
two famous fountains-one named
Lethe, which effaces the memory of all
your former life, and the other
Mnemosyne, which for ever fixes on
the mind whatever is to be seen or
heard in the dread cavern. You refused
TO drink of Lethe, but took of Mnemo-
syne, so you told me on your return;
but what you saw you would not reveal,
even to me.
"A settled melancholy seemed to have
fallen upon you; you avoided society,
and after vainly cndeavoring to restore
you to your former self. | saw you,
with regret, flee from the world and
take up your abode in cavern, cut out
of a rock, short distance from Athens.
Here Won lived and studied attended
only By faithful slave. who had wait
ed upon you from your youth up.
Your friends supposed You would soon
tire of this manner of life, but they
were mistaken. For five years You per-
sisted in il, and became every year
more fond of solitude.
zone morning how well recollect
it.-your slave entered the city, beating
his breast and throwing dust upon his
head. | felt that some calamity had
and rushing from my house,
| questioned him of his master. With
some difficulty | extracted the facts
from him. 1t seemed that you had fire.
quent conversations in an unknown
tongue with some mysterious stranger,
who would appear when you made Ger.
tain cabalistic signs. and who would
vanish without using the door of the
cavern as means of exit. The slave